I can read soulmate AU if it's: * A complete subversion of the trope where free will wins out * It's soulmates in the zhiji C-Drama sort of sense, because that is not the same thing * It's not actually a soulMATE but a soulBOND forged voluntarily (example: someone lets a psychic vampire feed off of them voluntarily so the vampire doesn't go for anyone else, but it comes with the price of a soulbond, which the fed on character knows and consents to), including subversion where the soulbond is a curse that needs to be overcome
But other than that, yeah I can't with soulbond AUs. I just. Yeah. No. sex pollen/aliens made them do it fall in the same category for me, basically everything where the free will of the character is tampered with. I am semi-ok with amnesia fic, but only if the amnesiac character is allowed to retain agency, which is a delicate line to tread, I know. (Which is why a lot of stucky fic just didn't work for me.)
I have a general thing about agency. I went through the Dana Scully school of character development I was always a big fan of the way she always struggled to retain her agency so matter what the plot threw at her. I also have some personal topics in this regard that I don't want to get into here, but needless to say character agency is a big thing for me. That doesn't mean a character can't be unconsciousness or sth, but just a general character topic.
Omegaverse just squicks me, idk why. Not sure this was what you were looking for, but I have a visceral reaction to it and I just can't. This is on the very short list that gets filtered out in every fandom.
Another that I just can't with (but that I suspect also plays into the agency topic) is woobiefication of a character. It drives me up the walls what some fandoms do with specific characters and I want to throw that whole tendency against a wall quite regularly. (In reality I close the fic and never look at it again.) I think it does a disservice to characterization. Yes, someone can he weak and at rock bottom and need taking care of, but that's the not same thing at all. Plus, some moral ambiguity is actually good, but what happens to fandom is...not that.
no subject
I can read soulmate AU if it's:
* A complete subversion of the trope where free will wins out
* It's soulmates in the zhiji C-Drama sort of sense, because that is not the same thing
* It's not actually a soulMATE but a soulBOND forged voluntarily (example: someone lets a psychic vampire feed off of them voluntarily so the vampire doesn't go for anyone else, but it comes with the price of a soulbond, which the fed on character knows and consents to), including subversion where the soulbond is a curse that needs to be overcome
But other than that, yeah I can't with soulbond AUs. I just. Yeah. No. sex pollen/aliens made them do it fall in the same category for me, basically everything where the free will of the character is tampered with. I am semi-ok with amnesia fic, but only if the amnesiac character is allowed to retain agency, which is a delicate line to tread, I know. (Which is why a lot of stucky fic just didn't work for me.)
I have a general thing about agency. I went through the Dana Scully school of character development I was always a big fan of the way she always struggled to retain her agency so matter what the plot threw at her. I also have some personal topics in this regard that I don't want to get into here, but needless to say character agency is a big thing for me. That doesn't mean a character can't be unconsciousness or sth, but just a general character topic.
Omegaverse just squicks me, idk why. Not sure this was what you were looking for, but I have a visceral reaction to it and I just can't. This is on the very short list that gets filtered out in every fandom.
Another that I just can't with (but that I suspect also plays into the agency topic) is woobiefication of a character. It drives me up the walls what some fandoms do with specific characters and I want to throw that whole tendency against a wall quite regularly. (In reality I close the fic and never look at it again.) I think it does a disservice to characterization. Yes, someone can he weak and at rock bottom and need taking care of, but that's the not same thing at all. Plus, some moral ambiguity is actually good, but what happens to fandom is...not that.
So yeah. My maaaajor issues right there.